Prep Wrestling: Griego two wins from state title

BAKERSFIELD • One day down, one more to go for Sultana's Corey Griego.

The 170-pound junior wasn't dominant, but like the old saying goes, a win is a win. And Griego is just two victories away from achieving every prep wrestler's dream: winning a state championship.

Griego went 3-0 on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the 41st CIF State Wrestling Championships at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield.

"They're all performing well as a team," Sultana coach Rocky Humphrey said. "We want to break that barrier and get one into the finals. The icing on the cake is if we can get Matt (Williams) to place. That would be real nice."

Griego wrestled the entire day with his left knee heavily wrapped, but Humphrey said the junior told him it felt fine. Griego just wasn't his explosive self, and it nearly cost him.

"He says it's not bothering him, but it might be messing with his confidence," Humphrey said.

Griego's title dream almost turned into a nightmare in his first match of the day when he needed sudden-death overtime to get past Escalon's Jonathon Costa, who is ranked 10th in the state.

Griego was up 2-0 in the third period and seemed well on his way to victory when he was called twice for stalling. That took the match to overtime where in the final 30-second stanza Griego scored an escape point to win 3-2.

"I thought he was wrestling real well in that match but stalling, stalling," Humphrey said. "Two points to put it into overtime. That's kind of absurd. The kid wasn't even close to scoring on him."

Griego's second-round match was a little less stressful as he won going away 7-2 over De La Salle's Aaron Pease, who is ranked 15th in the state.

Then came Griego's quarterfinal match with fifth-ranked Stevie Cervantes of Poway. Griego trailed 2-1 after the first period then rode Cervantes for the entire second period. He'd gain an escape in the third to tie the match, then scored a takedown for a 4-2 lead. Griego was again called for staling which made it 4-3. Cervantes tried to gain a reversal, but Griego was able to hold on as time expired.

"He was just hanging on and trying to get through," Humphrey said.

As pleased as Humphrey is that Griego reached the semis, he was cautious to think about him making the finals.

"He's not wrestling with the pop, the zing, the passion that he usually has," Humphrey said. "He won't win the tournament if he continues to wrestle like that. He's got to make some changes.

"Maybe tomorrow is a new day — hopefully."

Williams entered the day facing a tough road. His quarter of the bracket included Granada Hills' Sohrab Movahedi, who is ranked third in the state at 182 pounds. Movahedi ended up beating Williams 13-6.

But Williams — ranked seventh in the state — was far from finished. He stormed back in the consolation bracket, eventually facing De La Salle's Devin Aiello in the last round of the night.

Williams ended his night in dominant fashion with a 6-0 win over Aiello. Next up is a match with La Costa Canyon's Ian Baker in the round of 12 today. A win will guarantee him a top eight finish in the state.

"He's going to have a tough one against the La Costa Canyon kid to get in to place," Humphrey said. "There's a lot of good kids in the weight class. This next one will be a real challenge."

The Sultana senior started his day with a second-period pin against Sutter's Chase Gildea in his opening pigtail match. But his next match proved to be quite a bit tougher.

Williams had to face the Los Angeles section champion, and Movahedi was as good as advertised.

Williams was tied 2-2 after the first period, but Movahedi turned it up a notch in the second period with a couple of takedowns. He went on to win 13-6.

Williams won his first consolation match with a pin over Wasco's Jose Robledo in the third period then handled Chico's Sam Miller 8-0.